A Time Of Refreshing

Some pictures of my retreat to Louisville.

We were treated at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. My first time ever eating there and I learned what "A La Cart" means. I was thinking they were going to bring the food in on a cart, but it just means it cost a whole lot more.

From left to right: Bob Russell, Me, Tracy, Brian, Tony, Ben, Bob, Sam, Mark.


Here are more pictures for my retreat brothers to download.





I am planning on burning all the pictures I have to a CD and sending them it in the mail.

Pray For Judah

Please continue to pray for Judah. I came across this interview and it heightened my sense of concern for Judah, his family, the orphans, and all the Christians. Please take a look at it.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/octoberweb-only/140-52.0.html

UGHHHHHH!

I have those moments where I would rather beat my forehead against a brick wall than try and explain something to my child again, or have to tell them to not do or to do something one more time. To beat my head against a brick wall would be less painful and more productive.

Maybe you have been there. It may have not been a child, but maybe you have experienced a moment in time when you thought, "Why don't they get it!"

I was reading John 6 and saw into the life of Christ and couldn't help but to think that Jesus was having an UGHHHHH moment. He was gently guiding the people to realize that He is the one they ought to believe in and upon this they tell him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You?" (John 6:30).

Just the day before he had fed five thousand people, the very people who are now asking for some amazing sign to prove what he says. What does Jesus have to do? Die on a cross or something?

I just preached yesterday about the significance of receiving the Holy Spirit. This led us to briefly discuss miracles and if they exist today. I personally believe that the Spirit of God is capable of doing whatever He deems essential to glorify Christ. I believe that supernatural phenomenon takes place today. I believe that some of it is at the hands of the devil to lead people astray while other instances are the result of the Holy Spirit to glorify the Son of God so that others might hear the word and believe.

I am not sure if I said it well or clear but at the end of the day I know one thing is certain, miracles alone are not enough to change someones heart. The truth of Christ is essential. In this cynical and skeptical post-modern world we live in noting seems believable and if God were to do something miraculous I am afraid all we would hear from the non-believers would be, "Best 5 out of 7."

Christ rose from the dead. If you are not willing to believe in that and place your faith in the Word of God, you won't believe anything else he might do to impress you.

How Do We Respond To Skeptics

In John 4 there is a story about Jesus encountering a woman at a well. Many are very familiar with this story. There is a non-verbal exchange that I think we may miss because the conversation is not real time and we do not see the non-verbal indications that express the kind of attitude in which the words were exchanged.

In verse 14 Jesus tells this lady, the he has just met, that he has water she can drink from and will never be thirsty again. Now, if you'll by that I have some ocean front property in Arizona. Let's also remember that Jewish men didn't speak with women, epically Samaritan women. I would imagine that this woman had experienced ridicule or jokes at her expense at some point in her life. I have a strange feeling when I read this text that she believes a witty arrogant Jewish man is trying to annoy her when he tells her he has water that will sustain her for the rest of her life with just one drink.

Therefore (Even though there is no indication in the Greek text) I believe her response in verse 15 is in a tone that indicates sarcasm and skepticism. It would make sense that Jesus would immediately turn the conversation down a path that would quickly remove all of the joking, sarcasm, and skepticism. That is exactly what Jesus does in verse 16. He makes a statement that will cause the woman's skeptical and cynical attitude to immediately change; he pushed a button.

Once Jesus changed the mood of the cynical woman he then answers her scepticism by indicating that he has knowledge beyond normal human knowledge. She now knows that something is very different about this man. But what about us? We are not able to have this kind of power to cause the skeptic to think about it, so how do we respond. I believe there are several clues in this story here and are supported by scripture elsewhere.

1. Seek relationships out of a heart of compassion with people that no others are willing to get close to. That is where it all begins. That is exactly what Jesus does here even though it may have just happend that Jesus wanted a drink, ever thought about that.
2. Pray that God would convict you of your own sin so that you may live such a holy life that the people around you cannot have anything against you (1 Peter 2:12).
3. Pray also for whom it is that you are reaching out to and pray specifically that the Holy Spirit would convict them and that He would give you power to say what might touch their button. Before the conversation could turn the person needed to feel the sting of sin (John 16:8).
4. Trust in the power of God and the Gospel message and share the truth. Jesus had the power to say and do things that were out of this world. We do not, but He still does. Trust in His power to open their heart as you share the truth about His love, mercy, grace, and salvation.

You say it sounds to simple and others say the Bible is too hard to understand. Which one is it?